Joseph Wright Of Derby Biography | Oil Paintings

9-3-1734 Irongate, ENG - 8-29-1797 Derby, ENG

Known as Joseph Wright of Derby because he spent his entire life in that town, Joseph Wright of Derby was the first English painter of any significance to work in the provinces. Although even he had to go to London for his formal art education.

He established his own studio, where he flourished as a portraitist, and it was as a result of his contact with the rising industrialists of the 1760s and 1770s, such as Richard Arkwright, regarded as the creator of the factory system in the cotton industry and Josiah Wedgwood (whose portrait he painted) credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery, that his career changed direction quite dramatically. Joseph Wright of Derby is notable for his use of Chiaroscuro effect, which emphasizes the contrast of light and dark, and for his paintings of candle-lit subjects.

Wright of Derby, The Artist of the Industrial Revolution.

During the new Age of Enlightenment, he often attended the meetings of the Lunar Society, a group of influential scientists and industrialists living in the English Midlands, and Wright's paintings chronicle the struggle of the birth of science against religious values and alchemy. The Enlightenment, in the art, cannot be considered a unified international art movement, but a response that was consistent with local cultural developments in a certain area during a particular age. Yet, some aspects of eighteenth-century European painting shared similarities, not so much stylistically as in content, as there was a general interest in science and social morality, and the pleasure of reading and traveling.

Joseph Wright of Derby, in fact, was the artist of the Industrial Revolution, the right man in the right place at the right time, and it is for his spectacular canvasses depicting the wonders of modern science and technology in their infancy that he is remembered. His attention to the details of machinery was matched by his uncanny mastery of artificial lighting, which he used to good effect. An Experiment On A Bird In An Air Pump, influenced by Rembrandt'sThe Anatomy Lesson Of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, the painter focuses on the curious and fearful expressions of the public, thus adding a pleasant touch of irony. In fact, the scientist resembles a diabolical magician.